Bollywood superstar Sanjay Dutt, one of the accused in the Bombay serial bombings that killed nearly 300 people is apparently coming to Canada to perform live concerts.

A court in India recently said the actor can visit UK, USA and Canada from May 22 to June 30 to perform in a production called "Jalwa-2003".

It is unclear where the shows are to be held in Canada or how Dutt has been able to get a Canadian visa especially with his alleged involvement in the bombings.

The actor, who is to perform alongside Indian hearthrob Salman Khan, was given a new Indian passport on May 9.

Khan himself is facing homicide charges from an incident last year where he allegedly ran over a homeless man in Bombay, India. He did not have a valid driver's license at the time.

Dutt, meanwhile, is to return to court in India after the tour.

Immigration Canada does not comment on individual visa applicants. However, a Vancouver-based immigration consultant said it is very rare that someone like Dutt, who has been accused of major crimes in India, would be granted a Canadian visa.

"If he has got a visa, someone with connections must have vouched for him." Dutt is among 170 people accused in the bombings that rocked India's financial hub in Bombay on March 12, 1993.

The attack was allegedly planned by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in retaliation for nationwide Hindu-Muslim riots.

The bombs were planted at strategic nerve centres such as the Bombay Stock Exchange, the headquarters of Air India, the country's international carrier, three five-star hotels and a selection of public places. In addition to the 300 killed, hundreds of people were maimed in the explosions. Dutt was arrested as a suspect and jailed for nearly 18 months before being released on bail. Police claim that Dutt had a AK-56 rifle in the vicinity of the blast area and had destroyed evidence. The actor has denied both charges.

Indian papers recently reported that 10 years after the serial bombings key accused continue to evade the law and justice remains elusive.

The high-profile court case involving the attack, considered to be the longest blast trial in the world, has so far failed to deliver any verdict due mainly to the failure of efforts by the Indian authorities to bring the top accused persons back to India. "One must understand that the Bombay blast trial is something that the world had never seen before. These blasts cannot be compared even with the 1995 Oklohama city bombing," said state prosecutor Ujwal Nikam. "I feel sorry that justice has not been done yet to the victims and to the legal heirs of the deceased. But the fact that the conspiracy was hatched in Dubai and later in Pakistan gives a completely different legal implication to the case."

Nikam said the attacks marked the first time highly sophisticated military explosives were used in India. "These explosives were brought in from Dubai and dropped nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) off the Bombay shore, after which they were smuggled in to the city," Nikam said.

Indian authorities believe the trial has been boosted with the recent extradition from Dubai last month of one of the prime accused, Ezaz Pathan, along with Ibrahim Sheikh Kaskar, younger brother of the mastermind Dawood Ibrahim.

Another police team meanwhile is negotiating the deportation of another key suspect from Portugal. hat suspect identified as Salem, 41 is also wanted in connection with several cases of extortion from Indian film stars, as well as being a prime suspect in the killing of a film producer, Gulshan Kumar. Indian authorities who have been hunting Dawood, Salem and others for the Bombay bombings for 10 years now feel that international pressure could help see justice being done.

"International pressure can help India get these criminals back and put them on trial for what they have done," said Nikam.

"The United States especially needs to crack down on our neighbour Pakistan, which is harbouring these terrorists. It's time Dawood and the gang was handed over to us."

Last year India submitted to Pakistan a list of 20 "most wanted criminals" it wanted deported to India, included the alleged bombers.